New Survivor Reference Panel for Catholic Church in England and Wales

Nazir Afzal, the former Crown Prosecutor who leads the Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency (undated file photo)

The Church in England and Wales is getting a new organisation through which survivors of clerical abuse are to advise the bishops on safeguarding matters.

Part of wide-ranging child protection reforms, the new survivor reference panel replaces the Survivor Advisory Panel (SAP) of the now decommissioned National Catholic Safeguarding Commission, which has been replaced by the Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency (CSSA).